6.5 Creedmoor for moose

[Bravo 4]

Let's ask a professional on koolaide:

 

[YZ-80]

I would not recommend your 7mm-08 for anything over 250 yards on a moose unless you can wait for the perfect shot or you would like to hone your blood tracking skills.

I think you are correct. Bullwinkle deserves more.

 

[Rich Coyle]

I confess, I killed a Cow Moose with a 6.5CM. 140 Grain Nosler Accubond. 1 shot broadside, 120 yards. Quartering away slightly. Big fat Cow. 280 lbs of meat.
She started walking away.. she walked 10 feet. not 10 yards, but 10 feet! and dropped.

The bullet nicked a rib, and went sideways. Fragmented a bit, but 80% of it landed in the off side front leg. Shot was low, but just caught both lungs.

Here's the problem. The Cow was so old, the meat is tough. Grainy & hard to eat. It's not like a Tender Cow Elk.

Oh, back to bullets. There was no blood, but Moose have very thick coats. Like 2" of fur, and guard hairs.

Would I use the 6.5 again ? Absolutely ! Because I can practice with it for hours.
I had 10 seconds to shoot, as the cow saw us. Thanks to all the practice, I just picked up the gun and shot. No deafening brake, No stupid recoil.

There was deafening sound despite no brake. Use electronic hearing protection.

 

[LRMonkey]

Greetings from Scandinavian area !
What i have read and heard during my about 30 years of hunting is that the 6.5x55 and similar cartridges work well on scandinavian moose with heavy proper bullets. But you better understand that our moose are a lot smaller than alaskan moose. Also we hunt for meat, so just behind the shoulder lung shots are prefered, you will hear some comments if you destroy the shoulder(s).
We usually hunt them on driven hunts where the distance very seldom is over 100 meters, mostly we talk about 15-50 meters. Or then we use so called stopping dogs, what ever spitz-eared breed there are and when they keep the moose at bay by barking you have all the time in the world to get close and find a proper shooting place.
Also most of the hunting teams have tracker dogs if it's not a perfect shot or the animal runs away from the spot where it stood when the hunter shot it. In most places the forest is so thick or the terrain so uneven that the animal disappears if it runs even for a short distance.
I have tracked numerous animals with my dachshund that i had, great tracker, may he R.I.P.
I have shot moose with 30-06, .376 Steyr and .416 Rigby. Bullet placement is the key, but bigger is better in my opinion. At least you get a proper blood trail.
Happy hunting !

 

[X47guy]

@Swamplord but you once told me I could hunt with the 6.5 Pro or 6.5 Wolf Killer.

 

[X47guy]

Or was it the 6.5 Romulus? I can't remember. There were a bunch of 6.5s we discussed about building

 

[Lapuatom]

View attachment 164800 I've lived in Alaska the past 45 years and hunted moose since childhood, have taken moose with an assortment of cartridges and was present in hundreds of hunts with hunters using various other cartridges

While we like to remember the good times, and successful outcomes give us good memories, sometimes the worst scenarios are remembered most wether we want to or not, those disastrous hunts always involved lesser cartridges, nothing I hate more than crawling through the wilderness in the darkness searching for a wounded animal, I'd much rather be at the campfire sipping whiskey and toasting my feet near the flames

Moose aren't hard to kill but for such a large animal, "shot placement" and timing almost never seem to line up properly, regardless of how well most seem to think they have trained themselves, and this is where the smaller cartridges fail

Believe me, when a new moose hunter sees a huge body with massive antlers step out from cover, your knees and hands will shake, all thoughts of shot placement and "I'm a sniper" will vanish, and this is where the bigger cartridges are supreme, line up on the shoulder and hammer him hard

This past September I shot my 31st bull moose at 250 yards with a 338 Edge, one knee down on the ground and elbow on the other knee, I lined up the crosshairs dead on the shoulder and the 265 gr CEB MTH bullet smashed the bull to the ground, never made a single step ...

I wasn't overly concerned about "shot placement", staying off the shoulder bones, heart or lung shot, feed it between the ribs, spine or neck shot etc ....

The simplicity of point and aim center mass and send with 100% confidence of favorable results cannot be overstated or argued away with "too much gun" and other such nonsense, now "not enough gun" ... THAT will create more problems than you have time to deal with

Power... it's a wonderful thing

There is no such thing as overkill! What, too dead, has never been spoken.

 

[MontanaJack]

Better question is, "what cartridge available to me will produce a quick, clean kill?". Why step down for the sake of argument? Most people that can afford an Alaskan moose hunt likely have access to numerous firearms. Those magnificent animals should be put down with a clean, efficient round rather than be used as an experiment. The hunter should use the firearm that they can shoot accurately with confidence. I have 6.5 Creedmoors and think its an awesome round for deer size game. However, I don't like tracking a blood trail because I made bad choices. One of the first choices a hunter makes is which gun to use for the chase. After too many years watching too many animals die slowly, I'm committed to using the right tool for the task at hand. For me, elk & moose go down quickly with the 300 Win Mag. Deer size game get at least 25 caliber. I made the mistake of taking my 22-250 on a deer hunt once. There is no need for animals to suffer a prolonged kill because of the hunter's vanity or curiosity.

 

[Bill28]

Would a moose be similar to an elk in terms of toughness? I'd like to think my creedmore would do the job on either with a 140 Accubond or something similar out to 300-400 yards. I'd like to think the same of a 7mm-08 too. I would agree that at ranges beyon that, things would seem marginal with such chambering.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Moose are not as tough as Elk

 

[WildRose]

A short-barreled (18"-20") .375R is on my list to build/purchase.

I have them in 24 and 26" currently and I'm toying with the idea of building one more with a 28-30" tube to see just how far and hard I can push the limits of the round.

I had a 20" but gave it to my brother because he borrowed it for a bear hunt and never brought it back, HA!

 

[Snowboy]

Moose are not as tough as Elk

Moose can absorb lead if hit in the wrong place like bounty absorbs water and not even flinch. Take both lungs out of either elk or moose and they go nowhere.

 

[Pulpwood]

I would not be brave enough to hunt moose with a cartridge i would not take grizzly hunting. Old enough to know better.

 

[dwinmeade]

I usually don't comment on posts and living in PA, I have no moose experience. But if I was going moose hunting, the more practical question to me is...

When/if a grizzly wants you to share your moose with him, bickering about what caliber vs a moose seems moot.

I'd pick a caliber that would handle a charging grizzly, before I'd worry about the moose. (I've also heard that a charging moose will fill your pants, too!)

Either animal, my life may weigh in the balance of my caliber choice, and it won't be a 6.5 Creedmoor.

So, what caliber would I choose? My only experience with a big caliber is with a friend's 300 Weatherby Magnum (what a beast of a caliber!). I'd start by looking at that and going upwards. (I'd also have a holstered 44 Magnum with me, as well.)

Side note, I have another friend that uses his 300 Weatherby Magnum for whitetail deer. REALLY?? (I'm always on his butt about that...leave the butchering to the butcher, not to the caliber, I keep telling him...lol.)

He shot a nice 8 point this year and within days he went to his chiropractor AND the first thing he was asked, "You've been shooting that 300 W. M. again, right?"

One shot, one visit...serves him right, I keep telling him! We both laugh, he's a good bud.

 

[Swamplord]

Moose are not as tough as Elk

really ? because for generations elk have been shot with cartridges not ideally suited for pop n drop on the spot, thus creating the myth

I whack 'em n pack 'em

you can whack 'em n track 'em